The Cecil Whig., 1887-05-14
IS 1T A CRIME TO OWN LAND2
BY JOHN PHILIP PHILLIPS.
i'trt /.


| tended ike the sunshine, for the free anC
common use of all. 1t has also been salC
that private ownership of land defeats
the purpose Of the Creator and is a crime
| against both man and God. Moreover
1t has been alleged that land owners are
a class with unjust and profitable privi
legeS; ry monopoly raising the price and
rent OF land; drawing a revenue from
what was designed for public property,
aud growing rich by the toll of others
T 10 remedy this alleged wrong, it has
been proposed that the state, without any
compensation whatsoever, by taxing its
pretended owners the full rental value OF
the land now held by them, should at
once contiSCate all land for the benefit OF
its rightlul owners, the people.
The foregoing measure would virtually
destroy property in land and expunge all
rights Row existing in the form of mort
cages on real estate. Ownership of a
a piece Of land would then resemble
ownership Of a four per cent. Govern.
ment bond, the principal of which was
never due, and upon which an annual tax
of tour per cent. was laid.
The intimate familiarity with the Sc
cret thoughts and purposes of the Most
High enjoyed by those who proclaim the
aforesaid doctrines has been denied us.
| Nevertheless, we can consider some facts
and principles relative to land and its
| valve.
Like all other things to which a price
may be attached, land has no intrinsic
value whatsoever. 1t is valueless unless
| 1t gratltles a human desire or supplies a
human want, and the question whether
it can do this or not, and if so, to what
extent, depends upon It's surroundings
| and the relation II bears to mankind.
| The market price of land is the means
employed to express public opinion of the
| advantage of owning certain piece of
| 1t compared with the advantage of own
| lug a certain amount of money
| Originally there was no land with a
MAJ ket price attached thereto. This was
| 50 because until an extrnsic value was
| conferred upon land by human exertion
| 1t had 30 value whatever. Tue idea that
| ldr Inherently possesses value is the
| fundamental mistake upon which rests
the statement that mo one has right
to own the value created by the Diety."
| The fact SIMPLY is that the Creator did
not see lit to create intrinsic value of any
kind. He created various things with
| Intrinsic qualities, but LETT to mankind
| 'lib 1taoA VI SLCbLiII3 biit bIluSIC result,
| the supply ot human desires and wants,
which We call value
The fact that there never was an acre
| % iaud with intrinsic value, is exempIi-
| tied by the present value OF land through
| out the woIl ld. Land is vaueless Just in
| proportion as 1t remains i'll it's original
| condition and surroundings. At the
| present time there are vast tracts of land
which cannot be sold for twenty live
| cents an acre. Yet this land has the
same intrinsic qualities as the land that,
| ander different conditions, sells for $1,000
~ acre. Moreover, land. by the growth
| Of favorable circumstances, may become
very valuable; but this does not insure
its remaining so. Whenever the condi-
| tons which gave it value cease to exist,
| it relapses into its primitive state.
| The amount of labor expended upon
| municipal land aud its individual owner
| ship are neither the sole nor even the
dominant causes which give and sustain
its value. Such land rises and falls in
value just i'll the proportion that 1t fills
and supplies commercial, political,
social, and industrial want, not merely of
the residents of the particular city in
| which 1t lies, but of the nation, and, in
commerce, of a considerable portion of
the population of the entire globe. With
| cut labor expended upon it, municipal
land could not thus supply human wants.
lhe broad distinction Is, that such labor
upon tract of land is of no avail unless it
creates conditions which barmOniZe with
n multitude of other conditions and wants
arising outside of it. In vertication of
this, We have only to consider the history
of land where large and wealthy cities
once stood, whose ruin was wrought by
evcn-S that placed other locations under
conditions which gave them greater fit
ueSs for the supply of human needs
Labor bestowed upon land is simply
| 0le Oi many conditions upon which its
Talue depends. If the value of land in-
creased simultaneously with an increase
Of the labor spent upon it, there would
always exist a measure by which the
value OF II particular piece could precisely
BE- aScertalned The owner could simply
show that a certain amount of work had
been done on his real estate and the
buyer would at once know its value But
such is not the case. Take the farms in
the State of New York, for example. AS
4 whole, those farms have lower value
to day than would be arrived at if the
original land were computed at one cent
per acre, and the bitches, fences, clear
ing-ott stone, buildings and other i'm
provements were computed at the rate of
fifty cents for every twelve hours work
thereon, the workman to board himself.
In fact, many such farms can be bought
at prce computed on the basis of one
cent all acre tor the original land and
twenty five cents for each days labor
spent in fitting such land for human hab-
itation and Sustenance
Similar facts are also presented in all
large cities. Whoever will visit a city
real-estate Office can readily find num-
beIS of houses and lots for sale at prices
less than the cost of building such
houses, without calling the lots worth
one cent.
Both upon land and personal property.
labor may be applied to the creation of
conditions in such manner that the value
thus evoked will exceed the cost of the
labor. But, as a matter of fact, the per-
inaueut Improvement of land. on the aver
aye, does not create So large an amount
OF value as the cost OF the labor thus en-
pl0yed; that Is, If the wages of such labor
be reckoned at the rate usually paid for
similar services. From this fact has
arisen the proverb: Fools build houses
for wise men to live in" What is true
of houses is true u a considerable ex-
tent of all other kinds OF land improve
mentS.
The ownership of both land and per-
sonal property is capable of subdivision
into many degrees. But, for our present
purpose, we snail divide vested rights in
property into two broad classes:
Flrst-The right to possess and use a
thing, personally. In this class may
fairly be included the right to use thing
possessed, even if such use involve It's de-
struction. Thus a farm tenants right
TO fuel necessarily implies his right to
consume it.
Iecond-fhe absolute ownership of a
thing; the right to lease, sell, exchange,
or to perform any other act Herewith
uot adverse to the rights of the public.
No one wishes possession of thing,
unless he believes such right would graf
iiy his desires or supply his want, to
some extent. No one wishes to own a
thing, unless he believes such ownership
would more fully crafty his desires or
supply his wants than its simple posses
sion and uSa. The possession and use of
a thing, without its ownership, may be,
and often are considered very desirable;
| but such right is usually deemed inferior
to absolute ownership.
There has always been land, the pos
session of " hich could be had without
the payment Of price or rent. Men will
ngly pay tent for land, only when they
think It's possession confers greater op.
! portuuiticS for gaining wealth and other
/ Hl n Al - at